Proper Ornaments - Mission Bells

by Dave Goodwin

published: 27 / 5 / 2020

Label: Tapete Records
Format: CD

Excellent second album in nine months from London-based electronic pop outfit the Proper Ornaments

Review

Only nine months on since the release of 'Six Lenins', the Proper Ornaments are back courtesy of those lovely people at Tapete with 'Mission Bells', a solemn but inspiring record that began its life using the sixteen track Studer tape machine as on that previous record. Recruited as a bassist for their last tour, Nathalie Bruno joins as a permanent member the usual suspects in the group of James Hoare, Bobby Syme and Max Oscarnold, who employed a Moog sequencer and other electronic instruments to complete the four song new album which started to take shape while they were on tour last year, where new ideas emerged in different soundchecks around Europe. James Hoare and Max Oscarnold have actually been playing together since they were nine years old. As on their first record, 'Waiting for the Summer', the band have gone back to using simple drum machine beats, a trait that contradicts their live gig sounds. The attention to detail is still there that is present on all the Proper Ornaments' offerings and they now have the added benefit of a thicker sound with the helping of Bruno. Lyrically they have grown and matured even more in the last nine months. Their sound recalls Six. By Seven or a mellow National or Spiritualized. If you did give the last offering a listen this is a little more melancholic and with the addition of the instruments a slight more expansive. Considering the length of time it took to put this together, this is quite an achievement. In the current climate, this might just give you the impetus to hole yourself up and indulge.

Track Listing:-

1 Purple Heart
2 Downtown
3 Black Tar
4 The Wolves at the Door
5 Broken Insect
6 The Impeccable Lawns
7 Echoes
8 Flophouse Calvary
9 Strings Around Your Head
10 The Park
11 Music of the Traffic
12 Cold
13 Tin Soldiers